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When the Barnes and Noble Nook Color first came out, it was a relatively limited hybrid between an e-reader and a tablet. During its life, Barnes and Noble offered software upgrades, improving its performance and capabilities. At the same time, third parties offered what was, for some users, the ultimate improvement -- tools to turn the Nook Color into an Android tablet, freeing it from Barnes and Noble's limitations.

System Software Updates

The 1.3 software update for the Nook Color represented a broad based improvement. Barnes & Noble tweaked the system's software to provide both general performance improvements as well as better connectivity when using the device's built-in Wi-Fi networking. The update also added a new level of interactivity to the 21 different magazines offering subscription options on the Nook Color. The 1.4.3 update was more modest, but also tweaked system performance as well as offering different options for viewing some types of documents. Over its life, Barnes and Noble also added an app store feature to the Nook Color.

Operating System Updates

When the Nook was first released, it ran Barnes and Noble's customized version of Android 2.1, nicknamed Eclair. Over the Nook Color's life, it was upgraded to Android 2.2 Froyo. Froyo's overall performance improvements let it run faster than Eclair. It also added support for "just in time compiling," which helped it to internally work with programming code more efficiently.

Going to Android

Since the Nook Color ran on Android underneath it all, it had the tools necessary to work as a regular Android tablet -- they were just covered up. Enterprising Nook owners figured out how to strip that software away and unlock the full functionality built into the Android operating system. A third-party company even made expansion cards that could be used to boot the Nook right into Android without any technical experience or knowledge.

Tablets and HDs

Ultimately, the most significant upgrade to the Nook Color was replacing it with newer devices. As of the date of publication, Barnes and Noble sells two more advanced devices -- the Nook HD and the Nook HD+. Both offer faster processors than the 800 MHz chip in the Nook Color. They also have higher resolution screens and longer battery life.

About the Author

Steve Lander has been a writer since 1996, with experience in the fields of financial services, real estate and technology. His work has appeared in trade publications such as the "Minnesota Real Estate Journal" and "Minnesota Multi-Housing Association Advocate." Lander holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Columbia University.